Alex Ciocan: We have moved mountains to organise the Tour of Romania

Chairman of the Romanian Cycling Federation (FRC), Alex Ciocan told a news briefing on Wednesday that he and his team "have moved mountains" in order to organize the Tour of Romania, this year in its 54th edition.

"A lot of work has been done on this Tour, because in the spring there were some changes inside the federation; until we managed to get organised time passed very quickly. I don't think it's been a month and a half since we started putting things together; we believe we have moved mountains, but we shouldn't say that, but the media and the athletes, nonetheless after the Tour of Romania takes place, to see the results. We have a small team, but a very passionate one," added Ciocan.

The FRC chairman underscored that the Tour of Romania could not have taken place this year without the support of his partners: "The Tour of Romania is the locomotive of Romanian cycling, and Auchan is the fuel of the Tour of Romania."

No less than 16 teams have announced they will run in the race.

"This year's prizes are close to the beautiful sum of 25,000 euros, prizes much lower than for tennis tournaments or compared to what happens in football, but they are prizes demanded by the International Cycling Federation (UCI) that those with the Tour of Romania agree with,' Ciocan explained.

The retired cyclist hopes that in the coming years the level of the Tour of Romania will increase and the race will take place in June and will become a stage of preparation for the Tour of France.

Ciocan also spoke about the Romanian national team: '' We have a fantastic generation, between 17 and 22 years old. The youngest athletes who will be part of the national team are Ioan Dobrin (CS Otopeni), coached by Mircea Romascanu; Serban Luncan (Torpedo Zarnesti), Adi Marcu (Torpedo Zarnesti), both coached by Viorel Grosu, all 19 years old. The oldest is Edi Grosu, who is 29 years old on September 4, and Valentin Plesa (CSA Steaua), 28 years old.

Of the last three editions of the race, two were won by the Romanians, Serghei Tvetcov in 2018, and Eduard Grosu in 2020, while in 2019 the victory went to Dutchman Alex Molenaar.

The route of the Romanian Cycling Tour, 2021 edition:

Tuesday, August 31: Prolog - Timisoara (time trial, 3.9 km)
Wednesday, September 1: Leg 1 - Timisoara - Deva (201 km)
Thursday, September 2: Leg 2 - Deva - Palinis (157 km)
Friday, September 3: Leg 3 - Sibiu - Poiana Brasov (186 km)
Saturday, September 4: Leg 4 - Brasov - Bucharest (158 km)
Sunday, September 5: Leg 5 - Bucharest circuit (100 km)